Book picks similar to
Dance of the Butterfly by Scott Carruba
1-star
3-star-rating
crime
dark-fantasy
Stillhouse Lake
Rachel Caine - 2017
But when a car accident reveals her husband’s secret life as a serial killer, she must remake herself as Gwen Proctor—the ultimate warrior mom.With her ex now in prison, Gwen has finally found refuge in a new home on remote Stillhouse Lake. Though still the target of stalkers and Internet trolls who think she had something to do with her husband’s crimes, Gwen dares to think her kids can finally grow up in peace.But just when she’s starting to feel at ease in her new identity, a body turns up in the lake—and threatening letters start arriving from an all-too-familiar address. Gwen Proctor must keep friends close and enemies at bay to avoid being exposed—or watch her kids fall victim to a killer who takes pleasure in tormenting her. One thing is certain: she’s learned how to fight evil. And she’ll never stop.
The Craftsman
Sharon J. Bolton - 2018
August, 1999On the hottest day of the year, Assistant Commissioner Florence Lovelady attends the funeral of Larry Glassbrook, the convicted murderer she arrested thirty years earlier. A master carpenter and funeral director, Larry imprisoned his victims, alive, in the caskets he made himself. Clay effigies found entombed with their bodies suggested a motive beyond the worst human depravity.June, 196913-year- old Patsy Wood has been missing for two days, the third teenager to disappear in as many months. New to the Lancashire police force and struggling to fit in, WPC Lovelady is sent to investigate an unlikely report from school children claiming to have heard a voice calling for help. A voice from deep within a recent grave.August, 1999As she tries to lay her ghosts to rest, Florence is drawn back to the Glassbrooks' old house, in the shadow of Pendle Hill, where she once lodged with the family. She is chilled by the discovery of another effigy - one bearing a remarkable resemblance to herself. Is the killer still at large? Is Florence once again in terrible danger? Or, this time, could the fate in store be worse than even her darkest imaginings?
Black Magic Woman
Justin Gustainis - 2008
After surviving a series of terrifying attempts on their lives, the two find themselves drawn inexorably towards Salem itself - and the very heart of darkness.Black Magic Woman marks the start of an electrifying news series of supernatural thrillers following the exploits of occult investigators Quincey Morris and Libby Chastain, as they search out evil in the darkest corners of America.
Prior Sins
D.J. Gross - 2011
Understanding the dark impulses that drive men to maim and kill comes easily to him. When he temporarily swaps teaching positions with a University of Michigan colleague, Hadrian assumes he’ll be on a sabbatical from crime. Then a series of disturbing assaults occur on campus and the Ann Arbor police ask him to consult on the case. Pursuing a link between the perpetrator and ancient mythology leads Hadrian to Sarah Roth. His reaction to her challenges his long held assumption that emotional intimacy is beyond him. She believes she’s a monster University of Michigan Classics Professor Sarah Roth dreams of blood and death. Her mother warned her to never share her dreams or she’d be locked away. Sarah pours her passion into teaching as a relationship is out of reach. When Hadrian approaches her for information, she is shocked by her attraction to him. Hadrian is dangerous to her but the demons inside her like to live dangerously. As Sarah struggles to keep her distance from Hadrian, her dreams become more vivid and violent. The real monster is hunting her Someone on campus is secretly obsessed with Sarah. He is recreating the Labors of Hercules, violent feats of power and strength, to prove worthy of her love. Once he’s completed his quest, Sarah will be his forever. Praise for the Novels of DJ Gross:“I was super glued to my Kindle for two days...The balance between the suspense-filled action and romance is spot on." The Romance Reviews on Stolen Justice "Seriously top-notch." Romance Junkies on Stolen Justice "DJ Gross made it so you just had absolutely no idea what would happen next!" Shameless Romance Reviews on Stolen Justice"For anyone who enjoys Romantic Suspense - this is a must read." The Book Pimp Blogs on Stolen Justice
The List
J.A. Konrath - 2009
One of them is a homicide cop who's determined to find out. All of them are marked for death--because they're next on . . .THE LISTThe explosive new thriller from bestselling author J.A. Konrath, THE LIST takes you deep inside a top-secret techno-conspiracy that's too shocking to comprehend, too insidious to detect, and far too powerful to stop . . .
The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters
Gordon Dahlquist - 2006
But for Miss Temple, Roger Bascombe’s cruel rejection will ignite a harrowing quest for answers, plunging her into a mystery as dizzying as a hall of mirrors—and a remote estate where danger abounds and all inhibitions are stripped bare.Nothing could have prepared Miss Temple for where her pursuit of Roger Bascombe would take her—or for the shocking things she would find behind the closed doors of forbidding Harschmort Manor: men and women in provocative disguise, acts of licentiousness and violence, heroism and awakening. But she will also find two allies: Cardinal Chang, a brutal assassin with the heart of a poet, and a royal doctor named Svenson, at once fumbling and heroic—both of whom, like her, lost someone at Harschmort Manor. As the unlikely trio search for answers—hurtling them from elegant brothels to gaslit alleyways to shocking moments of self-discovery-- they are confronted by puzzles within puzzles. And the closer they get to the truth, the more their lives are in danger. For the conspiracy they face—an astonishing alchemy of science, perverted religion, and lust for power—is so terrifying as to be beyond belief.
Cargo
J.C. Macek III - 2017
He is a man who is used to getting his own way.But when Peterson wakes to find himself locked in a metal shipping container, with only a cell phone and twenty-four hours of air left, he begins to unravel.Desperate to escape, Peterson soon learns that there is more to the container than he first realised. And when the kidnappers call and demand ten million dollars, while threatening to murder and rape his beautiful wife if he doesn’t comply, Peterson must fight to meet their impossible terms or face being left to die alone in the darkness.Why has Peterson been targeted?Who are those responsible for his kidnap?And can Peterson make out of the container alive?Cargo is an edge of your seat thriller about the choices we make. This novel is based on James Dylan's upcoming feature film [Cargo], it will appeal to fans of authors like Michael Connelly, Robert Dugoni & Michael C. Grumley
One More Day
Kelly Simmons - 2016
It's unthinkable, the stuff of nightmares. But when she turns her back to pay a parking meter, Carrie Morgan becomes that mother. Ben is gone, and more than a year later, it's clear that he is never coming back.Until he does...for just twenty-four hours, before once again vanishing from his crib without a trace. Rumors start to circulate through Carrie's small town. Whispers that she's seeing things. That her alibi doesn't quite add up.Her husband and friends start to think she's crazy. The police start to think she's guilty. As the investigation heats up, Carrie must decide what to share, and why. Because the crime is about to be solved... and her secret revealed.
Survivor
Roberta Kray - 2017
Sometimes Angela Bruce was ill in a quiet sort of way, but other times she roamed the Mansfield estate shouting about whatever had wormed its way into her head that day. Either way, Lolly was on her own so she learned how to look after herself pretty quickly.Mal Fury has never got over the disappearance of his daughter all those years ago. He hadn't entirely given up hope though because the police never found Kay's body. So when his private investigator turns up a lead that connects Kay to Lolly, Mal needs to find out more. But in doing so, he's delving into a decades-old mystery that could throw Lolly's entire world into chaos . . .
I Will Make You Pay
Teresa Driscoll - 2019
A mysterious caller with a chilling threat. Journalist Alice Henderson hangs up, ready to dismiss it as a hoax against the newspaper. But the next Wednesday, the stalker makes another move—and it becomes clear that this is all about Alice.Someone wants her to suffer, but for what? Her articles have made her a popular local champion—could it be her past rather than her work that’s put her life in danger? Alice is determined not to give in to fear, but with the police investigation at a dead end, her boyfriend insists on hiring private investigator Matthew Hill.With every passing Wednesday the warnings escalate, until it’s not only Alice but also her family in the stalker’s sights. As her tormentor closes in, can Alice uncover what she’s being punished for before the terrifying threats become an unthinkable reality?
The Necromancer's House
Christopher Buehlman - 2013
We know where you are. And we are coming.”The man on the screen says this in Russian.“Who are you?”The man smiles, but it’s not a pleasant smile.The image freezes.The celluloid burns exactly where his mouth is, burns in the nearly flat U of his smile. His eyes burn, too.The man fades, leaving the burning smiley face smoldering on the screen.“Oh Christ,” Andrew says.The television catches fire.Andrew Ranulf Blankenship is a handsome, stylish nonconformist with wry wit, a classic Mustang, and a massive library. He is also a recovering alcoholic and a practicing warlock, able to speak with the dead through film. His house is a maze of sorcerous booby traps and escape tunnels, as yours might be if you were sitting on a treasury of Russian magic stolen from the Soviet Union thirty years ago. Andrew has long known that magic was a brutal game requiring blood sacrifice and a willingness to confront death, but his many years of peace and comfort have left him soft, more concerned with maintaining false youth than with seeing to his own defense. Now a monster straight from the pages of Russian folklore is coming for him, and frost and death are coming with her.
Refuge
Gillian White - 2002
She has defended him through all his misdemeanours, but when he is involved in the death of a young baby, she is distraught. When the authorities send her and her family to the Boltons' remote farm, they find a refuge. But many families have come to the Boltons' farm, and not all of them have left it.
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
Stuart Turton - 2018
again.It is meant to be a celebration but it ends in tragedy. As fireworks explode overhead, Evelyn Hardcastle, the young and beautiful daughter of the house, is killed.But Evelyn will not die just once. Until Aiden – one of the guests summoned to Blackheath for the party – can solve her murder, the day will repeat itself, over and over again. Every time ending with the fateful pistol shot. The only way to break this cycle is to identify the killer. But each time the day begins again, Aiden wakes in the body of a different guest. And someone is determined to prevent him ever escaping Blackheath...
The Six
Anni Taylor - 2017
She's stunned when she's offered a lifeline: A program that includes a six-day stay in a Greek monastery, six challenges and a chance at sixty thousand dollars. There is just one condition - she must keep it secret. Evie's husband Gray is gutted to find the note that Evie left behind. Why did she leave and where did she go? And is she ever coming back? But his anger turns to alarm as he begins to piece together the circumstances of his wife's disappearance. When Evie's car is found burned in woodland, the police suspect him of murdering Evie. Gray has got one chance to get out of the country and find Evie - before he's arrested for something he didn't do.Too late, Evie discovers the chilling truth about the program and the island itself. And the closer she gets to finding an escape, the closer the deadly danger lurking in the depths of the monastery gets to her.
Storm Front
Jim Butcher - 2000
Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or Other Entertainment.Harry Dresden is the best at what he does. Well, technically, he's the only at what he does. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal creativity or capability, they come to him for answers. For the "everyday" world is actually full of strange and magical things—and most don't play well with humans. That's where Harry comes in. Takes a wizard to catch a—well, whatever. There's just one problem. Business, to put it mildly, stinks.So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry's seeing dollar signs. But where there's black magic, there's a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry's name. And that's when things start to get interesting.Magic - it can get a guy killed.